Chapter 21 ! !1 Chapter 21: Entrusted And Rewarded The Characteristics of a Pious Merchant or Employee بسم ال الرحمن الرحيم ِ ِ َع ْن َعبْد الَِ بْ ِن بُ َريْ َدةَ، َع ْن أَ ِبيه، َع ِن النَ ِبيِ :said (ﷺ) Buraidah narrated that the Prophet صلى ال عليه وسلم َقا َل َم ِن ا ْستَ ْع َم ْلنَاهُ َع َلى When we appoint someone to an administrative ِ َع َم ٍل َف َرزَ ْقنَاهُ ِرزْ ًقا َف َما أَ َخ َذ بَ ْع َد َذل َك َف ُه َو ُغ ُلو ٌل post and provide him with an allowance, anything he takes beyond that is unfaithful dealing. [سن أبي داود] [Sunan Abi Dawud] Introduction َو َما َكا َن ِلنَ ِبيٍ أَن يَ ُغ َل َو َمن يَ ْغ ُل ْل يَأْ ِت ِب َما َغ َل يَ ْو َم ا ْل ِقيَ َام ِة :Allah (swt) says in Surah Ali Imran Ayah 161 - ُث َم ُت َو َفىٰ ُك ُل َن ْف ٍس َما َك َسبَ ْت َو ُه ْم َل يُ ْظ َل ُمو َن • It is not [attributable] to any prophet that he would act unfaithfully [in regard to war booty]. And whoever betrays, [taking unlawfully], will come with what he took on the Day of Resurrection [3:161] - Ibn Umar (ra) narrated that the Prophet said: "Salat will not be accepted without purification, nor Charity from Ghulul." Taking Gifts as Favors - Bukhari has a chapter in his Saheeh titled. “The Chapter of Gifts to Those Who Have Been Appointed to Do Work.” - It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Humaid as-Sa'idi who said: The appointed a man from the Asad tribe who was called Ibn (ﷺ) Messenger of Allah Lutbiyya in charge of Sadaqa (i. e. authorised hign to receive Sadaqa from the people on behalf of the State. When he returned (with the collections), he said: This is for you and (this is mine as) it was presented to me as a gift. The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) stood on the pulpit and praised God and extolled Him. Then he said: What about a State official whom I give an assignment and who (comes and) says: This is for you and this has been presented to Chapter 21 ! !2 me as a gift? Why didn't he remain in the house of his father or the house of his mother so that he could observe whether gifts were presented to him or not. By the Being in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, any one of you will not take anything from it but will bring it on the Day of Judgment, carrying on his neck a camel that will be growling, or a cow that will be bellowing or an ewe that will be bleating. Then he raised his hands so that we could see the whiteness of his armpits. Then he said twice: O God, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments). - Imam al-Bughawi said this hadith indicates that gifts accepted by employees, .(condemned unlawful earnings - سحت) governors, and judges are suht - The money or gifts are given to sway the favor of the person given to. This hadith applies by qiyas (analogy) to all forms of favoritism. A Culture of Integrity - Following the conquest of Persia (al-Mada’in and Qadisiyya), hordes of treasures were sent to Madinah Ibn Jareer at-Tabari said, “When the sword of Kisra was brought forward with the rest of the treasures, ‘Umar (rA) said, ‘A people who deliver this are certainly people of profound integrity.’ Then he was told by ‘Ali (rA), ‘You restrained your hand [from the Muslims’ wealth], so your subjects restrained themselves).” - This narration shows the importance of creating a culture of integrity. When it is sound at the top it is sound throughout. Doubtful Income sent him (‘Urwa) to buy an (ﷺ) Hakeem b. Hizam (rA) reported that the Prophet - Udhiya animal for him with one dinar, so he bought him the udhiya animal and profited one dinar so he bought another in its place and came with an udhiya animal and a dinar to the Messenger of Allah (sAws) who said, “Sacrifice the sheep and give the dinar in charity.” ,supplicated for him to be blessed in his trade (ﷺ) In another narration the Prophet - and he became one that would profit from dust if he were to purchase it. Chapter 21 ! !3 • We learn from this narration that if you receive income that is doubtful you should give sadaqah on it. In this day in age there is some doubt in the income that is flowing that there is almost an immediate need to regularly be giving sadaqah. - There are two types of doubtful income: • Income that was seized and taken unlawfully - This first category is completely haram, should be returned and cannot be given in sadaqah. • Income that is doubtful based on the nature of the action - The second can be given in sadaqah as a means of purifying your wealth. You may or may not be rewarded. - Imam Shawkani said, It could’ve been the animal was the udhiyah “ie he couldn’t sell it” So the Prophet asked him to sacrifice it. That dinar was supposed to be given as a means of nearness to Allah in buying the sheep so the Prophet asked him to give it and keep that contract with Allah (swt). - The Prophet forbade someone from changing their mind after they have committed to giving sadaqah. Examples from the Seerah - Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (ra) was one of the earliest companions to accept Islam. He was a shepherd for Uqbah bin Abi Mu’it as a young man when one day Abu Bakar and asked him “Would you mind giving us (ﷺ) passed by. The Prophet (ﷺ) the Prophet some milk from one of these goats?” He replied “I cannot as I have been entrusted with these goats”. He then said do you have a goat that has no milk in it? He replied put his hands on the utters of the goat and said (ﷺ) that he did. The Prophet Bismiillah and it suddenly started producing a lot of milk. Afterwards it stopped (ﷺ) producing milk. Ibn Masoud said “teach me these words you said.” The Prophet smiled and said “You are a learned and trustworthy young man.” He then went and accepted Islam. He was trustworthy despite working for an evil man. Chapter 21 ! !4 - Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) noticed a shepherd one day it was a hot day and the man was fasting its hot. Ibn Umar asked him why he was fasting even though it was hot (to test him). He replied that I want to use whatever days I have left to fast and there is sweetness in the struggle. He asked why don’t you sell me one of those animals so we can cook it and eat it together (again testing him). He replied that this isn’t mine and I don’t own these sheep. So ibn Umar said “tell the owner that one of them got ate by a wolf or it got lost.” The man replied “What am I supposed to say to Allah?” Ibn Umar was so impressed that he bought his freedom and also bought all the flock of sheep from the owner. for his uncle (مضارب) at the age of 18 started to work as a broker (ﷺ) The Prophet - Abu Talib. She had received a recommendation from her sister Hala for whom the never had a big job until he (ﷺ) worked as a shepherd. The Prophet (ﷺ) prophet was hired by Khadijah (ra) to take her caravan to Syria. She always got cheated by her employees but because she had so much wealth she was always able to bounce back. She wanted to pay him twice the salary because of his noble character so the prophet (saw) wanted to make her twice the profit. This speaks to having ihsaan with the employer when they show you ihsaan. • There is a saying in one of the early books of Fiqh: The Mudarib (broker) is an ameen (trustee of the money), ajeer (employee), wakeel (representative), and a shareek (partner when profit comes) • We should ask ourselves how well we represent our employers and how well we take care of any Amanah we are entrusted with. Chapter 21 ! !5.